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EVE 



BY 
KATHARINE HOWARD 

Author of " The Book of the Serpent 




BOSTON 
SHERMAN, FRENCH # COMPANY 
1913 



\<V 3 



Entered at Stationers' Hall 

Foreign Rights Reserved 

Translation Rights Reserved 



Copyright, 1913 
Sherman, French &» Company 



JCI.A357628 



TO 

ELEANOR 



\ 



SCENE 
THE WORLD 

SPEAKING CHARACTERS 

PROPHETIC VOICE 

ADAM 

THE INSCRUTABLE ONE 

EVE 



EVE 



What is it gigantesque? It pursueth! 

All! All! pursueth! All! All! is gigan- 
tesque ! 

Thou art gigantesque. Thou! Atom 
Thou art gigantesque! 



[i] 



EVE 

Adam! Adam! What followeth thee? 
Adam! Adam! Why is the earth red 

about thee? 
Is it the slant of my rays? 
Adam! Adam! Look behind thee! 
What is it that shadows thee over? Mis- 
shapen. Gigantesque. 
What is it, mis-shapen, toil-worn, that 

draggeth itself? 
Where is the woman who followed thee 

out of Eden? 
What is it that followeth thee? 
Thou shouldst weight its head down with 

more burden, for once it comes up, 

what of thee? 
Where is Eve? Tall and fair, fashioned 

I Eve, after a manner of rhythm. 
I gave her the mark Hyacinthus. 
Adam! Where is Eve? 



[2] 



EVE 

The woman 'twas who despoiled me; she 
gave me the fruit, — I but ate. 

Adam! Adam! Didst thou not look 
with longing? 



[31 



EVE 

[Eve, with eyes looking earth-ward, searcheth 
and searcheth strange things that have 
grown in a night. 

The Inscrutable One speaketh with her\ 

Eve! Eve! Hast thou forgotten me? 

Verily! Verily! Thou hast forgotten 
me! 

Thou hast strayed far from Eden! 

Verily! Verily! Thy beauty hath dried 
on thy bones! 

Strange ... it is, that Time the Eter- 
nal, should wither thee thus. 

Why dost thou carry a burden? Why is 
thy head bended down? 

Why lookest thou utterly earth-ward? 

What searchest thou on the ground? 

Thou Inscrutable One! How cam'st 

thou here? 
Surely! I had forgotten thee, and all 
that pertaineth. 

1 have had sorrow. 

[4] 



EVE 

Burden and burden and burden. 

Inside, and outside, and pressing about 
me: — my shoulders are bent and my 
head droopeth earth-ward. 

Thou Inscrutable One! Whence com- 

est thou? I had forgotten thee. 
Thou callest me Eve? Eve had great 

beauty. 
God fashioned her. She was beautiful, 

beautiful, beautiful! 

1 am the woe part of Man. 

What searchest thou on the ground, O 
Eve? 

Thou Inscrutable One! Graves! 
There are graves in the Earth. 

Yea! The graves, they are many — but 
the most of my sons, they are grave- 
less. 

1 know by the circling of vultures. 
With much woe I have born them — these 

sons for the killing. 
[5] 



EVE 

O Thou Inscrutable One! A strange 

dread is upon me of these things that 

are growing about. 
Knowest thou the sons I have born for 

the killing? 
The killing and killing of brothers . . . 
Surely! The blood of the killing mois- 

teneth not well the flowers. 
Strange things have come up in a night. 
O Thou Inscrutable One! The sons I 

have born for the killing. 
Born them and nourished them well for 

the kill. 
The white milk of me floweth red in their 

veins; it floweth and floweth and 

floweth, and the things that come up 

from its moistening are fleshly and 

blotched and poisoned. 
They are things that come up in a night. 
Surely! The blood of my sons moisten- 

eth not well the earth. 

[6] 



EVE 

Eve! Thou hast wandered far, — 'tis a 
marvel to me, how that thy beauty 
hath dried on thy bones. 

Canst thou remember the fair ways of 
Eden? 

Thou Inscrutable One! Thou bring- 

est memory to me of things that we 
played with in Eden. 
Thou hast brought upon me unrest — we 
were mighty in Eden. Why did I 
follow him out . . . 

1 would return, yea, even I, but I know 

not the way. 
I remember in Eden a ladder of light that 

reached to the Sun. . . . 
I remember me well the Ladder of Light 

in Eden. 
My daughters I had by the Sun ran lightly 

upon the ladder, — hand in hand with 

the Sons of God. 

[7] 



EVE 

My daughters who blossomed from me, as 

the rose from the rose-tree. 
Fragrant and fair were they who went 

up the ladder hand in hand with the 

Sons of God. 
Dost thou remember, O Thou Inscrutable 

One, the beetles we played with in 

Eden? 
Dost thou remember the beads they 

rolled? 

They rolled for the Ages. Verily, Eve, 
the symbols of Eden were many! 

Yea! The tale of the beads . . . some 

of my daughters bartered their souls 

for beads. 
Verily! They have become finger idols, 

caressed by the fingers of my sons 

and my daughters. 
Idols of finger touch. Yea, we were 

mighty in Eden. 
[8] 



EVE 

O Thou Inscrutable One, did the Beetle 

know for what that he rolled him his 

beads? Didst thou? 
Didst thou know that he served the Sun? 

And the Frog ? Didst thou know of 

his service? 

Yea, we were mighty. And thou — dost 
thou remember the Sun-birds of 
Eden? 

Florescent as thee by the Sun? 

Eve! Why didst thou follow him out? 
Hadst thou but waited a little . . . 

O Thou Inscrutable One ! Would I have 

followed him out? 
He of the Mighty, He did not turn me 

from Eden; — I followed my cradle. 

Thou couldst have been mighty in Eden, 
O Eve, thou and I and He who 
walked there in footsteps of light. 

[9] 



EVE 

Knowest thou not when that thou burst 
the side of Adam and arose with thy 
wings, he was but a shell? 

Verily! Eve! What symbol was this? 

At one birth, thou, his all, sprang from 
the womb of himself. 

The side of him acheth with emptiness, so 
is his desire towards thee in his emp- 
tiness. 

Only through thee can he blossom. 

Seest thou not, O Woman, thy power? 

Lift up thy head and refuse. Bear not 
the sons for the Killing. 

Get thyself knowledge and wisdom. 
Get wisdom, and bear thine own 
sons. 

When thou hast perfected thy race — close 
by to the Tree of the Knowledge of 
Good and of Evil — in the midst of 
the Garden, groweth the Tree of 
Life the Eternal, so close that it 
sticketh. 

[10] 



EVE 

Speak not to me of life, O Thou Inscrut- 
able One ! I see but the stain on the 
earth. 

I will remember no more ; it draggeth the 
tears from mine eyes that are 
withered with weeping. 

Eve! A compassion groweth within me 

for thee and thy lack. 
Verily! It was the little of wisdom thou 

hadst which undid thee. 
From the portion of fruit which I gave 

thee, O Eve, thou gavest to Adam ! 
Give not away the gifts which are given 

thee, so it is unwise . . . 
Hadst thou not followed him, hadst thou 

not given my gift of the fruit . . . 
Thou mightst have ruled in the Garden; 

Thou and I and the One who walked 

there in footsteps of light. 



[in 



EVE 

O Thou Inscrutable One! Thou hast 
spoken to me of wings. 

All the winged things that I know, are 
pierced with arrows. 

They are stained with an unsightly stain, 
a stain of an unsightly colour. 

Such are the stains on my sons who are 
killed by their brothers; 'tis the dye 
of the arrow, the arrow that singeth 
its song as it passeth, scenting the 
blood of the heart for the slake of its 
thirst. 

In the thrall of thine eyes my remem- 
brance returneth; — for these un- 
countable ages I have been as a 
slave. 

O Thou Inscrutable One! Point me the 
pathway to Eden! 

If I should show thee the way back to 
Eden — if I should tell thee ... I, 
even I, in my sinuous fashion . . . 
[12] 



EVE 

O Eve! I know thee! Thou wouldst 
weave of the hair of the Sun-Maids 
a ladder — a rope — and Adam would 
climb to thee. 

Thou wouldst hear in thy sleep, — when he 
whimpered for thee, thy returning. 

Verily! Then it is wisdom thou needest, 
— the path into Eden shall be secret 
to me. 

Who ruleth in Eden, O Thou Inscrut- 
able One? 

The Rose Daughters thou hadst by the 
Sun, they are signed with the sap- 
phire, O Eve! 

They have eaten well of the fruit and 
their beauty endureth. 

Thou — didst credit that tale of thy dying, 
with the Tree of Life close at thine 
hand. 

[13] 



EVE 

Wouldst thou know how I knew thee, O 

Eve? With thy beauty ensnarled in 

thy bones? 
'Twas by scent that I knew thee: the 

Perfume of Eden is deep in thy 

bones. 

I will search me a ladder to climb. I will 

find me the pathway to Eden . . . 
I will search for the city of Enoch and 

find there the man whom I got from 

the Lord. 
. . . Silence enwrappeth thee! O Thou 

Inscrutable One ! Thou knowest the 

city of Enoch! ! 
Where? Thou Inscrutable One! Where 

is the city of Enoch? 
Where are the giants who are gone from 

the face of the Earth? 



[14] 



EVE 

Are they gone to the city of Enoch? 

My memory cometh strong; it lieth 

East from the Garden of Eden . . . 

and Jubal, and Tubal . . . 
My memory returneth to me; 'tis in 

Enoch perhaps, I shall rest me the 

foot of my ladder. 
Once I find Enoch, the finding of Eden 

is easy. 

Eve! Thou mightst rest it atop of a 

tower, — the towers of Enoch are 
many. 

1 will search for a city of towers; it may 

be the giants are there, and that race 
of my daughters who mated with 
Sons of Light. 
I will search — I will search through the 
Earth till I find me the Ladder of 
Light, and set me my foot to the 
climbing. 

[15] 



EVE 

Thou Foolish One! What art thou 

saying? It is nothing except that 
thou breakest the silence with words. 
Hear me ! Thou breaker of silence ! Be- 
fore that thou climbest thy Ladder 
of Light, the towers of that city shall 
tumble. 

Did he not then build well? That man I 

got from the Lord? 
Verily! Why should I not mourn? 

Crumble! And crumble! And 

crumble ! 

1 would that the Earth were a-crum- 

ble . . . 

O Thou Unsilent One! When that a 
man buildeth his base to perfection, 
— then shall his towers stand. 

Go thou to work at the base; it is in 
the beginning a thing getteth its 
strength. 

[16] 



EVE 

Be thou silent until thou hast got under- 
standing. 

The kernel of wisdom hides in the center 
of silence. 

Now will I tell thee a truth. The men 
who inhabit the City of High Tow- 
ers are pygmies. 

Crumble! And crumble! And crum- 
ble! 

Yea! So shall the towers crumble down 
on themselves, until from their 
ruins arise towers on a tower base. 

Then from their tops, thou mayest ascend 
on thy Ladder of Light. 

My daughters shall go up the ladder, O 
Thou Inscrutable One. 

Go up the ladder thyself, O Eve! Go 
up the ladder of sun-rays. 

[IT] 



EVE 

But I will take Adam up, because, — that 
I gave him the fruit. 

If thou wouldst take Adam up, thou 
shalt not do it by pushing or nag- 
ging. Go up thyself, — he will fol- 
low. 

And thou? Wilt thou not pluck him 
down from behind? 

Yea. I will pluck him and pluck him. 

He shall be well plucked indeed. 
Yea! I will pluck him and pluck him, 

till down the abyss hath fallen . . . 
That one who slayeth his brother the 

brute. 
That one who rendeth the soul from thy 

daughters. 
That one who marketh his forehead with 

gold till the weight of it slanteth it 

back. 

[18] 



EVE 

That one who eateth and watcheth star- 
vation. 

Yea, even that one who fatteneth his brain 
at the expense of another's. 

Climb thou high, O Eve! Seeing thou 
climbest high, the brute-man I 
know . . . 

The out-bruting man whom I know, will 
have been plucked off the ladder, and 
off the face of the Earth. 

Verily! It is time. But let him not fall 
in the jaws of the Earth, — she would 
spew him. 

When thou hast climbed to the top of the 
ladder, — if that he follow thee close, 
let him pass if thou wilt, — thou in 
thy radiance, Eve, — even give him 
thy hand over the threshold. 

Who art thou? Art thou the Beneficent 
One? 

[19] 



EVE 

Answer thyself, O Eve. 

Thou gavest me fruit in Eden. 



[20] 



EVE 

Thou Inscrutable One ! I have waited 

for thee in the paths of the forest; 
I have desire to thy wisdom. 
Some of my daughters, thou knowest, 
mated with Sons of God. 

1 remember me well how they played on 

the ladder of sun-rays together. 

But that was before. . . . Even now, 
some of my daughters are beautiful, 
— even some of the tainted lot. 

Strange it is, but the Sons of God see 
not clearly; — the glamour of beauty 
cloudeth the sight of their eyes. 

They look on my tainted daughters, and 
their beauty excuseth their taint. 

The Sons of God are few; how can they 
leaven the lot? 

O Thou Inscrutable One ! How can they 
leaven the lot? 

Crumble! And crumble! And crum- 
ble! How can they leaven the lot? 
The mess it hath curdled indeed. 
[21] 



EVE 

It was Adam who stirred. Eve! Do 
thine own stirring. 

Mixing and mixing for aeons . . . the 
Sons of God are few. How can they 
leaven the lot? 

It is difficult even knowing the sorts 
apart . . . 

The strains of the Sons of God . . . 

Verily! Verily! By the time they have 
seeped through the sieve of their 
staining, what will be left? 

Straining and staining, and straining and 
staining, what will be left? Left of 
the strands of light? 

Rumble! And rumble, and rumble! 
Thou canst hear it . . . the rum- 
bling . . . the ominous sound of the 
crumbling . . . the fall of the cities 
of man! 

Verily! Why should I not mourn! 

[22] 



EVE 

Be thou silent, O Eve, while I speak in 
the voice of the Seer! 

The day of dependency passeth, — even 
as the debauch of sex. 

Thou! O Eve! Thou shalt strike thy 
chain till it breaketh. Thou shalt 
come to thine own. 

Thou didst leave Eden; of thine own will 
following Adam. 

Thou hast toiled down the ages, en- 
leashed. 

Eve! If thou wouldst evolve the race 
which surviveth . . . 

Then must thou be strong in denial. 

The call of the one upon many, the call of 
the many on one, — no more shall it 
be, but each shall be for himself in 
the rush of the stream. 

The time draweth near for the passing . . 

No more the symbol of Man shall be . . . 



[23] 



EVE 

No more than the growing of fungus in 

crotch of a tree . . . 
Eve! To thy work! 'Tis to thee! 



[24] 



EVE 

Thou Inscrutable One! Again would 

I speak with thee. 

1 have thought to my thoughts' undoing, 

and out of it all hath come the knowl- 
edge that I lack wisdom. 

Eve! Thou hast done well indeed! 

Until thou hast wisdom, thou canst not 
be trusted in Eden. 

The Tree of Life flourisheth there. 

I will bring thee some seeds of the Tree 
of the Knowledge of Good and of 
Evil, when thou art worthy to plant. 

Thine hand must be clean for the plant- 
ing. 

Clean thyself up for awhile, O Eve! 
Cease thou the bearing of young. 

Clean thyself for awhile. Yea, for an 
aeon or two. 



[25] 



EVE 

Listen not to the call that disturbeth, that 
bestrideth the shoulders of Man and 
maketh a scorning of thee, a byword, 
a harlot, a slave. 

Listen, O Eve, while I speak in the voice 
of the Seer. 

O Thou Inscrutable One! I will listen, 
yea, I will learn. 



[26] 



EVE 

Thou shalt mix not thy strains unguarded. 

Eve! Mother of all! 
Thou hast mixed with consummate cur- 

sedness — eh? What is carelessness? 
The breed thou hast raised is accursed. 
Thou hast built thee a race which disturb- 

eth the peace of the Earth. 
Thou hast put out thy hand for the pluck- 
ing of strains, and soiled thy soiled 

hand to decadence. 
Let the rains lick thee to cleanness, and 

the Sun and the Winds they shall 

groom thee . . . 
Until thou art fit to begin to nourish thy 

spirit with wisdom. 
When from the seed of thy wisdom thou 

art fit to evolve thee a daughter, if 

she be worthy indeed ... go on in 

the line of thy daughters. 
(Rememberest thou, Eve, the Sun-birds 

of Eden?) 
Until all the strains have been sifted . . . 

[27] 



EVE 

Spin them out gold on the beams of the 
Sun, strands of fine gold and thin. 

Wash them and rinse them for aeons, and 
then from the top of the tower which 
standeth, — throw them afar to the 
Winds. 

The strand which is cleanest and strong- 
est; — take that, select that to evolve 
thee a son. 

Him thou shalt call the Supernal, to him 
thou may'st give thy hand over the 
threshold. 

Thou Inscrutable one! The souls 

who would enter the Life? 

The knocking and knocking and knock- 
ing; — how can I bar them out? 

How can I hold the door shut, when the 
hands that are small press against 
it? 

1 should be of the Mighty, to hold the 

door shut against them. 

[28] 



EVE 

Eve! Thou shouldst get more of tender- 
ness; — Eve, thou shouldst knead thy 
heart soft. 

When thou knowest the temples of tor- 
ture, how canst thou let them come 
in? 

Why shouldst thou bring forth thy chil- 
dren, increasing the maggots of 
Earth? 

Now that thine output is rotten, — hast 
thou not strength to resist? 

Shut to the doors of the temples: clamp 
them with strong clamps of iron. 

Shut to the doors of thy temple, so that 
the noise of the shutting . . . 
soundeth and soundeth and soundeth 
unto the ultimate ! 

Only through thee can he blossom: (re- 
member the Sun-birds of Eden) 
hold up thy head and refuse. 



[29] 



EVE 

Oh! Eve! Hold up they head and re- 
fuse! 
Forget not the Race in the Racer! 

I would I had eaten more fruit of that 
Tree, — I would eat, knowing good 
from evil. 

My daughters shall eat of that Tree, — 
yea, all of my daughters; for the 
stain of the innocent staineth in 
touch, even as the stain of the know- 
ing .. . 

Will it help them to eat of that Tree? 

Eve! They are stained through the 
bone. 

They are rotten! Their touch! It pol- 
luteth! 

Let me whisper it thee: — they lack un- 
derstanding . . . 



[30] 



EVE 

Verily! Verily! I must find my way 
back to Eden and get me some fruit 
of that Tree. 

If thou wouldst return thee to Eden, O 
Eve, thou shalt search a long 
time. . . . 

Indeed thou shalt search a long time. . . . 

Thou shalt put away much ere I trust 
thee in Eden, — not yet art thou ready 
to eat of the Life Tree. 

I will bring thee some seeds of the Tree 
of the Knowledge of Good and of 
Evil, — which standeth so close that it 
sticketh to the Tree of Life Ever- 
lasting. 

I will bring thee some seeds for the plant- 
ing. 

Thou shalt dig in the sweat of thy 

brow, — and whilst thou art digging 

— thy strength — it shall come: — with 

knowledge, thy head shall come up. 

[31] 



EVE 

Thou shalt dig to the good of the Race. 
Thou shalt breed for the Race a new 

Racer. 
The knowledge thou diggest for good — 

it shall be that — shall straighten thy 

back. 
That thine head was pressed down — the 

stronger thy neck; — it shall be for 

uplifting. 
Thou shalt dig for thine own uplifting. 

Over the face of the Earth, will I dig, 
will I plant me the seeds of the fruit 
of the Tree of the Knowledge of 
Good and of Evil. 

My stained sons and daughters . . . 
their touch it polluteth . . . they are 
careless . . . and careless. . . . 

They lack understanding . . . yea, they 
lack understanding. . . . 

They must not come up in these poisoned 
growths. . . . 

[32] 



EVE 

No more shall the blood of them moisten 
the earth. . . . 

I must get me some seeds of that fruit ; — 
I will plant them over the face of the 
Earth, that the fruit may be plenty, 
of Knowledge of Good and of Evil. 

[She digs and she digs; — there is somewhat she 
plant eth.] 

Over the face of the Earth will I dig, will 

I plant, and the seed that I plant 

shall grow fruit. 
Ye must eat much of that fruit, O my 

sons and my daughters! 
Of that fruit of the Knowledge of Good 

and of Evil, — before . . . 
O my children! Ye are fit for the Tree 

of Life. 



[33] 



EVE 

Why lamentest thou, Eve? 

Verily! Why should I not lament? 

What shall I do with no children to milk 
me? 

Shall my milk run to waste? 

Yea! I know thou wouldst say — and I 
know, that the white milk of me 
could well moisten flowers for the 
growing — that the blood of my sons 
maketh a stain on the ground. 

Eve! Listen! I — even I. . . . Now, 
see, while I stand on my tip, I could 
circle thy body three times, and set 
my head in thy bosom. . . . 

Go away! I will not give my curves to 

thy straightening. 
I will not be enwound with thy curves, 

rather will I straighten myself. 

[34] 



EVE 

I will lend me no more to the fooling, — 
no more will I sin the sweet sin. 

Almost — I could trust thee in Eden, O 
Eve. 



[35] 



EVE 

How shall we carry them down? 

We shall slip! . . . We shall slide! 

We shall slip, we shall slide ... to the 
edge of the Bottomless Gulf! 

How shall we carry them down to the edge 
where the sands are quick? 

They are blotched and bloated and pois- 
oned! How shall we carry them 
down, and weight them with stones 
at the edge of the Gulf, — at the edge 
where the sands are quick. . . . 

Slipping and sliding and slipping; — the 
trail to the edge of the Gulf is pol- 
luted, the edge ... it is slimy with 
poisoned mud. 

Slipping and sliding and slipping! The 
trail to the edge of the Gulf. . . . 

The bloat that germeth the million, berim- 
meth the edge of the Gulf. 

A crust of the poison that lurks in the 
million berimmeth the edge of the 
Gulf. 

[36] 



EVE 

Verily! Verily! They must sink . . . 
and they must not come up? 

Ask of Him; The Eternal; The Ruler of 
Orbits; The Centre Of Swav. 



[37] 



EVE 

[The voice of Adam, calling, soundeth through 
the Ages; it soundeth a long way off.~\ 

Eve! Eve! Why hearest thou not me? 
Verily! I have within me a great long- 
ing for fatherhood. 
Yea! Verily! A great aching for 

fatherhood. 
It hath been for long time denied me. 
The loneliness of me crieth to the Ages 

for thy return. 
My stalk is withered; it blossometh no 

more. 
I have fallen upon the Earth and she hath 

not heard me. . . . 
Verily! The fall of me maketh no echo, 

— for she hath not heard. 
Eve! Eve! What am I in the Ages 

but a dry stalk which blossometh 

not. . . . 



[38] 



EVE 

Verily! I am as one who crieth and is 

not heard! 
Eve! Eve! Why answereth thou not 

me? 



[39] 



[After a long time\ 



[40] 



EVE 

\Oiie cometh with her head up: she speaketh: 
she is Eve.~\ 

Adam! I have to say to thee some- 
what. . . . 
I will not bear thy children; I will bear 

my children. 
When thou hast made thyself fit for 

fatherhood ; — if that the Ruler, Love, 

shall keep guard at the door. . . . 
Then will I stay with thee in the place of 

Sanctuarv, and I will bear our chil- 

dren. 
And, as I bear them, so will I make the 

laws to their welfare. 
Thus shall there be justice. 
If I bear sons, I will bear them to the 

honouring of my daughters . . . 

even to Life, will I bear them. 
If I bear burdens, I will bear them to a 

purpose. 

[41] 



EVE 

I the burden bearer, shall be a ruler by 

just law. 
Clean thyself, Adam! Yea! Verily! 

For an aeon or two! 

Eve! Thousayest. . . . Why didst thou 
not say before? 



[42] 



EVE 

[Eve speaketh with the Inscrutable One.] 

Thou Inscrutable One! Through 
digging I have come on a portion of 
wisdom, and dignity clothes me. 

1 will build me a City. 

In the centre a high tower of silence. 
I will listen no longer for footsteps to my 

undoing. 
I have heard from afar down the Ages, 

the long call creative. . . . 
My soul it hath ached with desire. 
All of my silence, I have filled with the 

listening. . . . 
Harkening the cry of my mate. 
I will listen no longer, except to the call 

from within. 

I will climb to my high tower of silence 
and listen to calls from within, — to 
the chanting of voices at service 
within. 

[43] 



EVE 

Thou, O Eve! Hast all! 

'Tis the fruit of the Tree, which I gave 

thee. 
It hath blossomed within. 
Thou but needest to study thy wisdom 

within. 
It resteth with thee. Verily! Thou, 

Eve, hast all! 

Oh! Thou Inscrutable One! Who art 

thou ? 
O Thou Inscrutable One! 

Eve! Thou hast said! 



[44] 



EVE 

Who cometh with chant of great clear- 
ness? 

Who, with feet flower shod, embroidereth 
the paths of the forest? 

Who pusheth the branches aside with the 
strength of her arms? 

Who looketh with eyes in which stars are 
entangled ? 

Who encircleth her head with the pale 
crescent moon? 

She is Eve! She is searching with far 
seeing eyes for her Ladder of Light. 

Thy teeth are of whiteness; thy breath 

is as that of thy daughters thou hadst 

by the Sun. 
Thou shalt set thy strong teeth in the 

apple of Life. Thou shalt eat of the 

Tree of Life Everlasting. 
Who followeth thee closely, O Eve? 
So close that thy radiance falleth on him? 
He will climb by thy radiance, Eve! 

[45] 



[After an aeon or two] 



[46] 



EVE 

Thou hast climbed, O Eve! To Thy- 
self! 

Thou art ready. Thou hast climbed the 
high tower to thyself. 

Look within then for wisdom, and rest in 
the shade of thy branches. 

Thou hast made of thyself the Tree of Life 
Everlasting. 

O! Thou! Eve! Art the tree! 



[47] 



EVE 

Who cometh chanting a long way off 

through the wood? 
Chanting a chant of great clearness. 
Who playeth the branches of trees to her 

chanting? 
Swaying and swaying to measure and 

measure. 
Who useth the wind to accompany her 

chant, — a voice of just measure and 

infinite clearness? 

Her feet are entangled no more from her 
climbing. 

Surely she findeth her Ladder of Light 
— else why doth the radiance en- 
circle? 



[48] 



EVE 

Who is the Tree of Life Everlasting? 

Who swayeth to the wind's measure? 

She is Eve! She is Eve! 

She calleth her children ; her children who 
wrangle no more. 

For that great understanding hath en- 
wrapped them in peace. 

She calleth her children to rest in her 
branches. 

She calleth to Adam to rest in her shade. 



[49] 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
THE BOOK OF THE SERPENT 



"Original, piquant, delicately cynical, with 
equally delicate touches of sentiment, 'The Book 
of the Serpent' has converted us from an original 
dislike to an ultimate delight. These are cryptic 
pages innocent of chapter headings, introduction 
of notes, anything, in fact, to spoil so slyly gnomic 
a work by any condescension to the stupid. . . . 
A unique morsel of sly humor for the elect." — 
New York Times. 

"Katharine Howard's delectable little book. 
. . . One gets here the picture of a sort of up-to- 
date Bergsonian Creator at work in his labora- 
tory." — Current Opinion, 

"Fifty-three pages in all, but every one of them 
is double starred . . . crisp, condensed, and alto- 
gether delightful, but deep with the philosophy of 
all things now and to come. . . . The Maker of 
Things as They Are ... is a great elemental 
force, like a statue of Rodin." — Merrick Whit- 
comb in the Cincinnati Times-Star. 

"A book 'for all and none,' wherein some will 
find the wisdom of the Serpent, and crave the 
thought that to forget is to be happy, some will 
find the wisdom of the Serpent, and crave the 
memory of the Future, and all will linger over the 
charm of diction, the originality and beauty of 
the imagery." — Phillips Barry. 

". . . Charms one's attention with subtle veri- 
ties." — Donald Tweedy in Book News Monthly. 

$1.00 net; by mail, $1.05 

SHERMAN, FRENCH & COMPANY 

Publishers 



I 7 1913 



Ill ill 

015 907 868 1 



